Prelude to Good Neighbourhood

110 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY , . , historian is that he has had an unu'sually wide experience of men. Believ-' ing that men differ very little in any age, he expects to find then; behaving in the past as in the present. Hence his refusal to see any romance In the Middle Ages, and even less in the medieval Church. The book is illustrated with photographs and drawings-and Dr. Coulton is no mean draughtsman'. One in particular should give sardonic pleasure to those who have known him and his work. It was taken when he received the honorary degre~ of LL.D. at Queen's together with the Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec. The attitud~ and expression of both is perfect. The test of an autobiography is its objective truth. Fourscore Years is a true picture of the writer, with his courtesy, modesty and humanity, . learning and affability, his charm, honesty and common sense, and, it may be added, with his bonnet humming gently, with his own peculiar bees. PRELUDE TO GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD'" EDGAR McINNIS The Treaty of Washington in 1871 marked the close of a highly disturbed decade in the relations between Canada and the United States. The Civil War and its aftermath brought a whole series of developments which gave " rise to acute tension and on occasion raised the possibility of actual hostilities . It was only when the treaty with its arbitration clauses provided for 'the adjustment of the chief difficulties of the United States with both Britain and Canada that the path was opened for the development of a firm and growing friendliness on both sides of the border. The evolution of this spirit during the generation which followed was not entirely unclouded. On the one hand there was a tacit determination on both sides to live in harmony and to settle all difficulties by peaceful means. On the other there were controversies still to be settled which gave rise to a good deal of friction before solutions were finally reached. The four outstanding topics were commercial relations, fisheries, fur sealing ~ and the Alaskan boundary. All of them gave rise to prolonged negotiations: I and though they never threatened a breach of the basic good relations I between the two countries, they created a constant undercurrent of minor ~ i~ritations which delayed the evolution of mutual confidence and goodwill. 1 The recent volume by Professor Tansill in the Carnegie series of studies r' on Canadian-American relations is a detailed survey of the chief topics of diplomacy during this period. As such it fills a very real gap in the historicalliterature of the two countries. The author has worked through a mass of documents--many of them concerned wi th tedious and repetitious II wrangling over detailed points-covering the negotiatioris which were in ~ *Canadian-American Relations, 1875-1911. By CHARLES CALLAN TANSILL. (The Relations of Canada and the United States, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.) _ New Haven: Yale University Press. Toronto: Ryerson Press. 1943. Pp. ~x, 507. ($4.50) REVIEWS · III almost constant progress on one or other of the main issues, and at times·on all of them simultaneously. By digesting and summarizing this material he has provided an extremely useful reference volume, copiously iUpstrated with extracts from official sources. Yet it is certain that many Canadian readers will find this a very exasperating book. That is not primarily the fault of the author. ·The few comments which he allows himself are generally fair and balanced. The source of irritation lies in the subject itself. Throughout all these negotiations the attitude of the United State~ is revealed as both self-centred and 'over-bearing. Canadian diplomacy is by no means free from faults of its own, but Canadians may well feel that beneath all its quibbling there lay a desire for a fair bargain which was not always clearly evident on the other side. .This feature is accentuated by the author's method of presentation. Though he has used both 'Canadian and American material, by far the larger part' of his narrative rests directly on American sources. Thus.the attitude of the United States is exhaustively portrayed in summaries and quotations, not always to...